Thursday, 10 June 2010

Hyakunin Isshu #66

Thursday, 10 June 2010 07:32
lnhammer: the Chinese character for poetry, red on white background (Default)
    Let us, at least,
have pity on each other,
    mountain cherry tree,
for other than your flowers
there is no one who knows me.

—13 May 2010

Original by Archbishop Gyoson, great-grandson of Emperor Sanjô (#68), written when he "unexpectedly" found a blooming cherry in the mountains. Apparently, at the time aware could mean "fondness/affection" as much as "pity," but I can't really read it in the former sense here except as the clunky "care for". Omoe is an imperative directed at himself and the tree "together," which looks like a volitional in English as we don't have a first-person imperative form. "For" is interpolation -- the two statements are without conjunction, but that seems to be intended relationship.


morotomo ni
aware to omoe
yamazakura
hana yori hoka ni
shiru hito mo nashi


---L.

About

Warning: contents contain line-breaks.

As language practice, I like to translate poetry. My current project is Chinese, with practice focused on Tang Dynasty poetry. Previously this was classical Japanese, most recently working through the Kokinshu anthology (archived here). Suggestions, corrections, and questions always welcome.

There's also original pomes in the journal archives.

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